Chapter 63: Political Economy of Oil

Yahya M. Madra

Political economy of oil In contrast to more narrow economic analyses of oil, where the focus lies on the price formation and the conditions under which the “right” price for this nonrenewable resource can be obtained, political economy of oil studies the conditions and consequences of the production, appropriation, distribution, and consumption of oil (and oil-related products) by taking into account social relations of power (at local, regional, and global scales), cultural codes of consumption, institutional structures of surplus extraction, and ecological impacts of human activity. In this sense, again in contrast to economics of oil, political economy of oil is decidedly interdisciplinary—moving beyond economics, it draws upon political science and international politics, sociology and cultural studies, geology and geography, and ecology. In what follows, the contours of a political economy approach (as distinct from the standard neoclassical approach) to oil will be outlined. Beginning with the status of oil ...

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